Microsoft invested in T3 in November of last year. Friedman declined to discuss specifics, though a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from December shows a $1 million investment in T3, alongside a credit facility worth up to $6 million, courtesy of an unnamed entity.

Microsoft has long claimed that the mainframe is dead, slain by the company’s Windows monopoly. Yet, apparently without any mirror nearby, Microsoft is now complaining through the Microsoft-funded Computer & Communications Industry Association that not only are mainframes not dead, but IBM is so anticompetitive that governments should intervene in the hyper-competitive server market. The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is worried that the trend toward cloud computing is introducing competition to the Windows franchise, favoring better-positioned companies including IBM and Cisco.

Microsoft doesn’t like the lack of market share in search and in servers. “White Knight” Microsoft shall save humanity from these “evil monopolists” (because you can’t use anything by Google, can you?) using lawsuits by proxy — an art that it masters. Speaking of Google, Microsoft uses politicians against it, as well as a variety of other attack vectors. See for example:

However painful it might be, Microsoft, like the print media that Ballmer eulogizes, must change. Microsoft must get online, and much faster than is comfortable. Otherwise it stands to lose to Google which has no built-in dependency on on-premise deployments.

It ought to be added that Google — just like IBM — has been sued due to Microsoft’s pressure (in the past and present). Microsoft openly encourages publishers to sue Google. It is likely that because Google is not a community project gardened by volunteers Microsoft need not hide its role quite as carefully. █

“…Microsoft wished to promote SCO and its pending lawsuit against IBM and the Linux operating system. But Microsoft did not want to be seen as attacking IBM or Linux.”

–Larry Goldfarb, Baystar, key investor in SCO

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Staff of the EPO is given yet more reasons to protest tomorrow at the British Consulate, for the so-called 'President' of the EPO reminds everyone of the very raison d'être for the protest -- a vain disregard for the rule of law

The European Patent Office (EPO) President, Benoît Battistelli, reportedly started threatening -- as before -- staff that decides to exercise the right to assemble and protest against abuses, including the abuses of President Battistelli himself

A protest in Munich in less than 6 days will target Mr. Sean Dennehey, who has helped Battistelli cover up his abuses and crush legitimate critics, whom he deemed illegal opposition as if the EPO is an authoritarian regime as opposed to a public service which taxpayers are reluctantly (but forcibly) funding